Sustainable Gardening Australia: News Release

Sustainable Gardening Australia (SGA) launches WiseGardening app to assist gardeners choose safer ways of dealing with pests, diseases and weeds.
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SGA has developed the WiseGardening app due to concerns about the risks of garden chemical products to humans and other life forms. Currently free to download, the WiseGardening app has been designed to help people protect their gardens from pests, diseases and weeds - without harming themselves or the planet. The app is the first of its kind in Australia and compares and rates over 850 products with a simple star system as well as suggesting non-chemical alternatives.
According to scientists Dr. Sharron Pfueller, CEO of the environmental non-profit SGA, and Dr. Colin Allison, “With the WiseGardening app, you don’t need a degree in horticulture or biochemistry to know if the spray you’re putting on your roses could be harming creatures apart from insects or fungi. Our assessment team has done the work for you; combing through product ingredient lists, packaging and mode of delivery and mapping these risks into the user-friendly app.
“Many products pose a risk to humans if they spill or ingest them or breathe in their vapours or aerosols. This is why we have looked at whether they contain ingredients with known carcinogenic properties, if they could affect people’s hormonal (endocrine) systems, or whether they may be genotoxic and contribute to DNA damage.
“We have also assessed products and their ingredients for the risk they pose to bees and other beneficial insects, birds, fish, aquatic organisms, frogs, and earthworms. In addition to this we have looked at how likely they are to end up in waterways after rain and how long they persist in the soil."
All products are given an easy-to-understand star rating and are periodically re-assessed to ensure any changes to formulations, packaging or active ingredients have been accounted for. The app also lists alternative, non-chemical options to help users make informed choices.
WiseGardening is the accumulation of more than six years work by SGA’s assessment team complete with the support of volunteers, donations and a grant from the Telematics Trust.
Currently free for users, the WiseGardening app is available to download at https://wisegardening.sgaonline.org.au

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The information with the link about SGA's product checker has also been added to our page Pest Control